I breathed a contented sigh as I walked up to the platform, wheeling my luggage behind me. It felt like an eternity since I'd stepped foot here, and quite frankly it might as well have been. After graduation last year, I had been hesitant to leave. Hogwarts was my home after all. It's where I grew up, spent seven years of my youth learning magic and making friends.
I never wanted to leave.
Sure, I had my Muggle family back home, and I loved them dearly, but Hogwarts was my second home, the one where I could be myself more freely. I didn't have to hide at Hogwarts. I could use the gifts and talents I had as I wished, well, within reason. Being at Hogwarts was a feeling I could never describe to someone who didn't experience it themselves, but I could try.
It was cozy. It was like sitting by a fire, wrapped in a soft, fluffy blanket, sipping hot cocoa on a brisk winter afternoon while your family sits around you laughing and telling stories.
I smiled to myself as I passed through the wall and continued on onto the train. Stepping in through the doorway like I had done for years prior was easy, now all I waited for was…
"Aurelia!"
There it was. I braced myself for impact as Olivia sprinted at me full throttle, her luggage jostling violently behind her. I opened my arms to embrace the fifth year who had become a sister to me, and smiled at her.
"Hi Livie, bet you didn't see this coming, huh?" She returned the smile.
"Of course not! You graduated! Why're you back? Did McGonagall say you could teach? Aren't you too young to teach? Are you gonna be a professor's assistant?" The questions flew from Olivia's mouth, eager for answers as ever, and I couldn't help but let out a laugh.
"I'm doing a trial run being a professor's assistant but I'm not sure if I'm going to be working solely with one professor or moving around until it's decided who I'll be assisting."
Apparently that was enough of an answer for her, because she nodded to herself. "Well then, you have to do a good job then so you can keep coming back, but I know you will because you're good at pretty much everything!"
I laughed.
"I'm not good at everything, but I like to try my best. Now, come on, we're going to miss getting good seats." I ruffled her hair and started helping her bring her luggage on the train.
"I missed you, Rellie." She said when we had situated ourselves in a cabin with her friends.
I smiled at her again.
"I missed you too."
~o0o~
It's been a long, long time, but this fic is finally over. I've been writing this since I was 15, and I turned 21 this year. Is it the best fic in the world? No, but it's one that I made a dedication to for years. It's a bittersweet ending, and who knows? Maybe next year I'll start a side story detailing Aurelia's life at Hogwarts. It's been fun, and I'm gonna miss it. Thank you for sticking with me this whole time. ❤